Moonside in 4 Stages
by StorySmall
Summary: After an extended stay in Moonside, Ness begins to forget things that were important to remember.


_Ness forgot what he was doing_

He realized it so suddenly. It was like walking into a room and forgetting why. He wasn't sure how long he had forgotten his purpose, but he certainly couldn't think of it now. Jeff bumped into him from behind.

"Sorry," Jeff mumbled, pushing his glasses up on his nose. Jeff looked around at the abstract scene about them, but Ness could see his companion was just as lost as he was.

So he kept walking. If he was walking this way before he forgot, then his destination was probably in that direction. Maybe he would see a familiar landmark. Surely there was something he would run into that he'd seen before and would remember. When he reached the wall before the dinosaur museum, Ness realized he'd never been in Moonside before. He'd been around Fourside, yes, and the buildings were all very familiar in that sense, but what could possibly make him think he'd been to Moonside previously?

Ness continued walking. He wasn't sure how long he walked. The clocks that levitated around him weren't helpful at all. They were either stopped or they moved so fast Ness was certain they couldn't be telling time right. The ticking grew so loud, he almost covered his ears, but all of a sudden it was quiet, and Ness forgot why he was worried.

_Ness forgot who he was walking with_

He turned around to see someone behind him. The boy had thick glasses and was wearing green. For a fleeting moment, Ness thought he recognized him, but he quickly realized he didn't, and it was clear the stranger didn't recognize him either.

"Sorry," the person said shyly, and he wandered off with his hands in his pockets. Ness continued walking. The black, black streets were not at all crowded, and whenever he did stumble upon a fellow human being, they gave him an icy stare. Ness wondered if this was considered polite in Moonside. He didn't stare back. Where was he going? Ness shuffled past the hotel, which had the incessant sound of a ringing phone coming from inside. He wondered why nobody answered it. He wondered why it was so dark. His memory of Fourside was fading as he continued on, but he remembered the sun, and green grass and blue water. Here it was black. Everything was black as a giant bucket of paint from the heavens spilled over the city except for the very edges of things like the sidewalk and trees. These were colored in bright neon that hurt Ness' eyes. He rubbed them. He was growing weary. The brilliant colors against black and the threatening glare of mobile gas pumps kept his head throbbing and his heart racing, but Ness could feel himself slowly shutting down.

_Ness forgot his name_

He opened his eyes and found he was lying on the black sidewalk. A painting nearby threatened to close in on him any second, so he crawled behind the cover of a dark tree. He didn't remember falling asleep or dreaming. He didn't remember being awake. His memories were little more than strange flashes of things he thought he once knew. There was a smiling girl with a ribbon in her hair. There was a dog, but it didn't look fierce, it seemed friendly. There was a phone, and ? could remember a voice on the other end, but no words. ? opened his backpack. There was nothing inside but an ATM card. Someone had stolen his stuff, or, at least he assumed someone did. He couldn't remember if he had anything in the backpack in the first place. He peered around the tree, and the art seemed to have wandered off out of sight. ? shouldered his backpack and began to look around. He seemed to remember that he had forgotten many things. He tried to think about what he still remembered. _Yes means no and no means yes_. He remembered that. How could anyone forget? _Moonside is home Moonside is here. ?_? wasn't sure if that was right. It sounded so familiar, as if he'd heard it 1000 times, but he didn't want to remember that until he figured out if it was true. _My name is_… ? couldn't remember his name. He couldn't remember if people had names. Maybe names where just something he dreamed about when he fell asleep. ? found himself at the end of the sidewalk. Black continued forever into the distance, and there was no color to guide ?'s steps.

_? forgets_

? turned away from the darkness. He looked at the screaming border lights of the city and he felt sick. This was his home. The cramps in his stomach, the tears in his eyes, these all meant he was where he belonged. The phone in the hotel stopped ringing, and all of the art and burning fires came out to greet him. He was home. He was in Moonside.

Welcome to Moonside.

Wecomel to Soonmide.

Moonwel ot cosidme.

Welcome home.


End file.
